ROME – Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman’s three-day visit to Italy and San
Marino, which ended on Wednesday, paved the way for a joint Italian-Israeli
cabinet meeting to take place in Jerusalem in October and for cooperation at
Expo 2015 in Milan.
Liberman was the first Israeli minister to visit San
Marino, the oldest republic in the world (its constitution was enacted in 1600).
An olive-tree planting ceremony attended by San Marino’s highest authorities
renewed ties of friendship between the two countries.
Liberman dedicated
four mobile maternity hospital structures in Mirandola, near Modena, on behalf
of Israel, Canadian philanthropist Walter Arbib and United Israel Appeal. An
earthquake hit Mirandola on May 29; at least 17 people died and 200 others were
injured. Some 14,000 people were left homeless.
In subsequent meetings in
Rome, common ground was found on numerous contemporary issues, including the
necessity of the EU embargo on Iran.
Prime Minister Mario Monti assured
Liberman that Italy would always “feel a political and moral responsibility...
to support Israel’s security.”
He added that “when anti-Semitism becomes
the flag post of those who call for the destruction of Israel... our response
needs to be firm.”